Floyd gets Twitter users irked anew
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has played the race card again and Lin-flamed the Twitter world.
Five months after apologizing for calling boxer Manny Pacquiao "a little yellow chump," Mayweather is under fire for racist comments directed at another Asian sports star.
This time, Mayweather's target is New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, an American-born Taiwanese sensation who has sparked Linsanity, the NBA's version of Tim Tebowmania.
Mayweather, a Las Vegas resident, ignited the furor Monday on Twitter when he tweeted: "Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise."
When met with a wave of criticism on Twitter, Mayweather responded, "Other countries get to support/cheer their athletes and everything is fine. As soon as I support Black American athletes, I get criticized.
"I'm speaking my mind on behalf of other NBA players. They are programmed to be politically correct and will be penalized if they speak up."
Among his critics was ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale, who tweeted: "Let's be REAL the only reason Lin MANIA HAS TAKEN OFF is because he has been off the charts -- PERIOID! #please FLOYD."
Unheralded and undrafted, the former Harvard starter went from bench warmer to phenom in little over a week. With Knicks stars Carmelo Anthony and Armare Stoudemire injured, Lin powered the patchwork Knicks to five wins in a row by averaging 28 points per game and eight assists.
Mayweather's latest controversy put an abrupt end to what appeared to be all-out effort to polish his image, after recent legal issues that threatened to send him to jail.
He's appeared at public ceremonies to make a $100,000 donation to the Susan B. Komen breast cancer organization and $50,000 to Habitat for Humanity.
He has cut back on the jewelry, worn a pink outfit to the Komen event and he has been leaving his luxury sports cars at home for appearances.
At a recent check presentation, he showed up in a Dodge Charger instead one of his half-million dollar Maybachs, part of his 14-luxury car collection.
Known for frequently tweeting photos of big-ticket sports bets he has won (but not the losers), he's put the brakes on that, too.
The last time he posted a winning sports bet was Jan. 9, when he tweeted "just won $400k on Alabama, the new National Champs."
He's been posting more photos with his children. At the Super Bowl, he tweeted a photo of himself with his two sons and rapper 50 Cent in a suite at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
What ignited his latest rant?
A longtime Mayweather watcher offered a theory.
"He lost a big bet on the Lakers when the Knicks beat them Friday," the boxing insider said.
Lin outscored Kobe Bryant 38-34 in the Knicks' 92-85 upset.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
The New York Times promoted the Mob Museum on Page One of Tuesday's edition and gave it huge play on the cover of The Arts section with the headline: "Las Vegas Embraces The Bad Guys of Its Past." Mobsters, wrote museum critic Edward Rothstein, "are still the gods of Vegas. And here, with great verve, they have become objects of both homage and retribution." The museum opened Tuesday with a mass wedding officiated by former mayor and ex-mob attorney Oscar Goodman, who pushed the downtown project. ...
The rumor that the UFC is exploring plans to build an MMA hotel with an arena is just that -- a rumor. "Absolutely false," says UFC publicist Karen Bell. The rumblings had the site at the Wild Wild West Hotel.
THE PUNCH LINE
"You know what Kobe Bryant's wife is getting for Valentine's Day? Half." -- Jay Leno
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
